1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder more particularly to a support for pipelines, electrical lines, cables and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For pipelines or electrical lines, the prior art in general provides the use of holding clamps that have one or more recesses and that grip or surround one or more lines that run parallel to one another. After the corresponding line has been introduced into the respective recess, such holding clamps are affixed to a support element by means of tensioning means such as screws, rivets etc. One disadvantage of this construction is that the holder has a fixed and defined number of ways in which potential lines can be fastened, and also defines their three-dimensional arrangement in relation to one another.
The object of the invention is to provide a support in which holding clamps of different sizes can be used as required, and/or their location and orientation in relation to one another can be changed.
In one embodiment of a support or holder as disclosed by the invention, the use of a long holding rail and holding clamps mounted on it so that they are arranged in pairs with one another and can be displaced makes it possible to fasten different lines in any desired sequence over the available width of the holding rail. The holding clamps can thus be pushed onto the holding rail in pairs of suitable sizes in a flexible arrangement, corresponding to the arrangement of the lines being supported. Because the pairs of holding clamps also consists of separate individual clamps, the lines can also be inserted on an existing support element, in particular in a holder that as been pre-installed on a wall of a railway vehicle, radially between the expandable pairs of clamps that sit radially on the holding rail. The pairs of clamps that go together are then connected together on their free ends by tensioning means, in particular bolt/nut connections. If the diameter or the circle that surrounds this diameter is equal to or larger than the circle that can be inscribed in the area enclosed between two holding clamps of a pair and the holding rail, then the line is at least frictionally fixed between the corresponding holding clamps and the relevant segment of the holding rail, whereby a force component is then created that presses the edges of the notches that reach around behind the holding rail against the backside of the holding rail, and thus secures the holding clamps to prevent them being displaced on the holding rail. On its ends, the holding rail preferably has a passage that lies outside the longitudinal portion surrounded by the holding clamps, so that it can be securely fastened to a support element, thereby preventing a lateral sliding of holding clamps. The holding rail preferably has a rectangular cross section which is adapted to the corresponding notch in the U-legs of the holding clamps. In that case, however, the notches are somewhat larger than the dimensions of the holding rail, to guarantee that they can be displaced easily along the holding rail. At the same time, the holding clamps can also thereby be tipped to a limited extent with respect to the holding rail, so that for the radial insertion of the lines between two corresponding, symmetrically bent holding clamps with their concave sides facing one another and which complement one another to form a "U", these holding clamps do not need to be pushed as far onto the holding rail as required by the diameter of the respective line. The free ends of the holding clamps can stand perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the holding rail or parallel to the plane containing the notches in the U-legs, and point away from the holding rail, so that tensioning means can be engaged which apply tension to these terminal segments and thus to the holding clamps themselves toward one another and thereby generate the force required for the clamping of the inserted line. For this purpose, these terminal segments can have borings for a screw with a nut, for a rivet or similar tensioning means, which borings run parallel to the holding rail or to the axis of the notches. The available length of the holding rail can thereby be greater than required by the number of pairs of holding clamps, so that the position of the holding clamps can be adjusted to the position of the respective cable or tube being supported. A railway vehicle in which a holder realized in this manner can be used can, on a wall element, support a C-profile rail, in which there is a hammer-shaped fastening anchor that can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the C-profile rail, and which acts as the guidance and fastening element, to hold the holding rail in a frictional contact with the C-profile rail.
The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings.